Salzburg

Salzburg is an absolutely beautiful and picturesque city that oozes old world charm.  There are lots of plazas and cobblestone streets and it's known for the iron signs that hang outside of restaurants and shops.  The city exists on both sides of the Salzach river and up on the hill is a big fortress.  We found the Austrians to be extremely friendly, and nearly everyone spoke english.  
As a special treat, every morning at 7:00 am we were treated to the sounds of church bells coming through the window.

It just so happened that there was a big festival that weekend to celebrate Salzburgs patron saint, St. Rupert.  In the main square (just down the street from our hotel) there were carnival rides, bier gardens, food and craft stalls. It was very festive, with all the townspeople dressed in traditional lederhosen and dirndels.

The first night we arrived was raining but we decided to go out and explore anyway.  We had dinner in a cozy pub that served austrian food - sausage, wiener schnitzel and of course, pretzels in the bread basket.  I think K lived on pretzels during our vacation.  Granted, I ate my fair share as well starting at breakfast.

 

After the sound of music tour on sunday, we took a ride straight up the mountain on the funicular to the fortress which overlooks the city.  The fortress itself was impressive, but more impressive were the views of the city and surrounding area.

We had a traditional dinner that night, which arrived with sides of dumplings as large as a softball and a serious pot of sauerkraut.

 

Before we left Monday morning, we took a stroll near the hotel past some favorite shops and up to the Abbey where we were treated to some beautiful views of the Alps. 

Salzburg is definitely a city I'd love to return to.  To see more photos from our trip to Salzburg, click here.